The present invention relates to a walker provided with a nonremovable flexible material seat, having sufficient slack for comfortable sitting, directly attached to, and suspended from a pair of horizontal side brace members on the parallel side frames of a folding or non-folding type walker. The foldability and/or crushability of this material seat permits it to be simply pushed forward out of the walking path of the invalid or other user.
The prior art is replete with a variety of walkers equipped with rigid and removable seats dating from 1923 as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,448,783, wherein is disclosed a wood or metal seat supported by straps hingedly connected to the front of a semi-circular reinforcing brace bar and suspended from the semi-circular handlebar of a walker by means of chains which raises the seat when not in use. U.S. Pat. No. 1,971,583 discloses another rigid seat bolted to the rear posts of a walker, which can be raised to one side of said walker to provide an entrance therein. U.S. Pat. No. 2,866,495 discloses a combined walker and chair wherein a rigid horizontal seat is disposed on a U-shaped horizontal brace assembly which remains horizontal when the seat is moved into a vertical position. U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,893 discloses a walker containing a rigid seating platform pivotally mounted to oppositely disposed arms of the U-shaped horizontal brace member which is held in vertical position by a spring member. U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,906 discloses a rigid seat panel or platform disposed on the arms of a U-shaped horizontal brace member by means of hooks on both the left and right sides and another pair of front hooks for hanging the seat in a vertical position when not in use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,101 discloses a walker and a rigid pivotal seat mounted on the front legs of a walker, which is spring loaded and capable of swinging upright and parallel to the right forward leg when not in use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,493 discloses a rigid seat pivotally mounted to one of the rear legs and engageable with the other rear leg closing the rear of the walker when in use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,790 discloses a walker with a rigid uphostered seat suspended from a pair of horizontal members on opposite sides of a walker frame by means of S-hooks, so that the seat can be completely removed or left hanging vertically from one side of the walker, when not in use. Canadian Pat. No. 1,093,949 discloses a walker and a rigid removable seat assembly mounted on the side frames at the rear of the walker. All of aforesaid rigid seats are either totally removable from the walker, and/or movable to one side of the walker in order to afford adequate space within its framework for the user to walk therein. An extra burden is placed on the user of these walkers to either pull down, pull up, or pull to the side, the seat for use; and again to remove the seat from the walking space when not needed. In addition, a rigid seat is not very comfortable.
Likewise, rigid fabric seats disposed on walkers are also disclosed in the prior art as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,533, wherein a fabric is sewed onto a rigid U-shaped swinging frame hingedly attached to the front legs of the walker and supported on pins projecting from the rear legs of the walker. This rigid frame onto which the fabric is sewed provides rigidity to the seat.
British Pat. No. 1,103,142 discloses a removable seat for a walker comprising a foldable sheet of fabric or plastic attached to the vertical members of the side frames of the walker by means of several clamping means on each of the four corners of said sheet. The fabric seat is preferably reinforced by two diagonally crossed strips of fabric sewn onto the bottom surface of the hemmed rectangular fabric sheet, which provides rigidity to the fabric seat.
Non-rigid fabric seats suspended within a walker have also been known in the prior art as early as 1920, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,361,102 wherein is described a rolling crutch having a unitary deep seat and back suspended therein, and supported from the vertical front legs and the horizontal side braces by means of hooks or the like. U.S. Pat. No. 2,224,246 discloses a removable seat affixed to a walker in the form of a sheet of canvas attached at one end to a front horizontal connecting bar of the walker frame, and at the other end, to a removable roller which rests on the horizontal side brace bars of the walker, when in use. When the seat is not in use, the fabric is furled on the removable bar which is disconnected from the pair of side brace bars and the seat remains suspended from the front connecting bar. U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,349 discloses an invalid support device useful as a walker which includes an elongated sling of canvas pivotally secured to a pair of T-shaped bars by means of a pair of long hooks, capable of functioning both as a seat when the hooks are vertical, or as a backrest when the hooks are horizontal.
However, none of the above cited art discloses a walker provided with a nonremovable comfortable flexible material seat having about 2 to 3 inches slack, suspended from, and directly attached to the oppositely positioned upper level horizontal side brace members of a walker, by means of permanently stitching said flexible material onto said side brace members.